Spray manifold end closure



Feb. 5, 1957 w. E. sTlNE 2,780,492

SPRAY MANIFOLD END CLOSURE Filed Aug. 26, 1952 ATTORNEYS United States Patent f() SPRAY MANIFOLD END CLOSURE Wilmer E. Stine, Washington, D. C.

Application August 26, 1952, Serial No. 306,519

3 Claims. (Cl. 299-59) (Granted under Title 35, U. S. Code (1952), sec. 266) This invention relates to end closure members and, more in particular, to end closures for spray manifolds, such as are used in automatic dishwashers.

This invention may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes Without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

Many dishwashing machines, particularly those designed for large-scale commercial as opposed to domestic uses, employ a water-recirculating principle in which the water is pumped through a main supply line to la plurality of radially-extending fingers, or spray-manifolds, that have small orifices adapted =to direct jets of cleansing wa-ter against dishes passed through them. The used and fouled water then is gathered and returned by the pump to the supply line.

With such a recirculation, it, of course, is most desirable to remove food particles, grease and other foreign substances from the water so as to avoid any clogging of the jet orifices of the spray manifolds and, in fact, much of the efficiency of the operation depends on the ability to keep these orifices free `and unclogged. However, although substantial efforts are made to draw off these foreign particles, it has been found economically impractical to attempt to achieve absolute purification and, as a result, the jet orices do become clogged and they require a periodic cleaning or reaming out by the use of a stiff brush, or some other equivalent cleaning tool.

Such cleaning is not, in itself, too difcult a task, but experience has shown it to be very much neglected for the simple reason that it requires too much time and effort to open up these manifolds and, permit the brush to be inserted and worked along their in-terior surfaces. Normally, where these cleaning operations are anticipated, the manifolds have their end portions capped with nuts or plugs adapted upon removal to bare the open end of the manifold and permit the tool insertion. However, such nuts or plugs may become jammed or locked in place and, at least, they require the use of a special tool for their removal and they are easily misplaced and lost when removed. ln any event it has become quite apparent that access to the interiors of the conventional manifolds has been so inconvenient as to very materially discourage frequent cleaning operations and, in many cases, the failure to perform this seemingly small chore has, to a very substantial degree, impaired the overall efficiency of the equipment as a whole.

Itis, therefore, yan object of this invention to provide an end closure for an open-ended manifold, such as a dishwasher spray manifold, the closure being so easily and quickly displaced for permitting the insertion of a cleaning tool through the opened manifold end that cleaning operations can be performed with a minimum expenditure of time and effort.

A more 4specific object is to provide such a manifold with a removable end closure that does not require the use of any special tool or the exertion of anything more 2,780,492 Patented Feb. 5, 1957 2 than nominal effort to effect its removal or displacement.

A further object is to provide a manifold closure member adapted to be retained in the manifold and to be easily moved out of end closing position into a position in which it does not interfere with the manipulations of a cleaning tool inserted through the uncovered end.

Additional objects include the provision of a manifold and closure member that is simple and inexpensive to construct and which has its parts permanently united so as to avoid loss or misplacement.

Other objects will become readily apparent after the lCe v structural details have been more thoroughly understood.

According to the present invention these objects are achieved by mounting a moveable end closure member in the bore of the spray manifold. As iisy customary, the manifold is open-ended, having one of its ends adapted for connection with a source of fluid pressure and its other formed to provide a seat for this closure member when the latter is pressed up against it by the fluid pressure. Preferably, the closure member formed as a ball of substantially the same diameter as the interior of the manifold and the seat 4is rather narrow-so that it projects radially inwardly of the bore of the manifold only a slight distance. With such relative sizing, an unseating of the ball which may be accomplished simply by pressure applied from the outside by a cleaning tool, leaves a rather wide opening in the end through which the tool can be inserted into the bore. The whole purpose, of course, is to provide an arrangement by means of which the ball can be unseated and shoved longitudinally of the manifold a suicient distance to expose the jet orifices of the spray manifold and permit their being scrubbed or cleaned by the very means used to shove the ball, which, as stated, is the cleaning tool.

After the cleaning, the ball returned automatically to a seated position in which ilow through the open end is effectively blocked, 'the means effecting this return preferable being the fluid pressure necessary to produce the spray.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings of which Fig. l is a longitudinal vertical section of the spray manifold and its end closure member; Figs. 2 and 3 sections taken along lines II-II and Ill- III of Fig. l; Fig. 4 a view similar to Fig. l but showing a cleaning brush fully inserted into the manifold, and Fig. 5 a sectional view of a modified end closure.

Referring to the drawings, spray manifold 10 is formed of a pipe section or conduit 12 threaded at one of its ends 16 for connection to a main supply line or header 18, the free end of the conduit being open but being constricted a small amount suticient to provide a how-blocking seat for an end closure member or ball 20. As is customary, conduit 12 is provided intermediate its ends with a plurality of longitudinally spaced jet or spray orifices 22 through which the hot cleansing water supplied under pressure, through main line or header 18, is ejected in the form of a spray.

As may be surmised, the dishwashers include a number of similarly constructed spray manifolds (not shown) extending radially outwardly from the supply header so as to provide a spray pattern through which dishes supported in suitable rinsing trays may be passed in a manner well known in the art. Orifices are so designed and the uid pressures so regulated that the sprays have sufiicient impact to quickly remove food particles .adhering to the dishes. In this respect, the washers are fully eilicient so long as the spray orifices do not become clogged, but because of the desire to utilize circulatory water systems and the practical impossibility of removing all food particles from the recirculated water, such clogging occurs all too frequently. Recirculation, of course, is almost indispensable because of the economies affected not only in the saving of water but also of detergents and other chemicals, so that, if clogging is to be avoided, it becomes solely a matter of cleaning these minute spray orifices.

The principal feature and objectof the present invention is to facilitate such cleaning and this is accomplished by the provision of a novel end closure which, as stated, is in the form of a ball the ball being so mounted that it can very easily be displaced to provide cleaning access to the bore of the spray manifold. As soon as the ball is freely movable in the bore of the manifold, preferably being of only slight less diameter than the bore, and under operating conditions, it is liushly seated on a constricted portion of the lmanifold so as to yblock escape L- through the open end and create a fluid pressure necessaryv for the jet sprays. It is not considered necessary, in dishwashing apparatus, -to provide a seal at this free end, since a slight leakage means very little loss in efficiency. However, if such a seal should be desired in this or other equivalent mechanisms, it could quite easily be provided by appropriate use of washers. In the present manifold, the seat simply is formed by a nut 26 provided with an axial or central opening 28, the nut being threaded internally for engaging the end of the manifold and also being provided internally with an annular ball-seating face 30 which is arcuate in cross-section to permit a flush engagement of the ball.

The water pressure of. the header is utilized to hold the freely movable ball in seated position, so that, when this pressure is ofi, the ball can be shoved very easily longitudinally of the bore toward the header to permit a cleaning or scraping of spray orifices 2?. by means of a Wire brush, such as brush 32 shown in Fig. 4. As presently contemplated, the brush also is to be used as the 'f tool or implement for unseating the ball and shoving it toward the header, and, for this reason, opening 28 in the nut is made sufficiently large to receive the brush, or, in other words, the construction of the manifold end due to the presence of annular seat 30 is rather slight so as to leave a relatively large end opening 28. Such an arrangement is consonant with other purposes, since it also is desirable, as stated, to utilize a .rather large ball which, most suitably, slidabiy contacts the bore of the manifold; the purpose of this ysizing being to make full use of the header fiuid pressure in returning the displaced ball to its seated position, as well 'as to provide a guide for the ball movements. Of course, itis necessary to prevent the ball from falling into header 18 when it is displaced, and this can be accomplished simply by the mounting of a narrow rod or bar 34 across the mouth of the manifold between the header and the innermost spray orifice.

The modification illustrated in Fig. 5 is functionally no different than the manifold already described, and it differs structurally only in the substitution of an integral ange 36 and annular seat 3S for threaded nut 26. Such .an integral flange can be formed by a simple upsetting operation and it may be found more desirable from an economic point of View.

In either modification the cleaning operations are the same, in that the cleaning tool, which may be suspended from the manifold to prevent loss, is inserted to shove the ball toward the header and past the innermost spray orifice. This operation normally would be performed with the headerpressure shut-off but, if other adaptions or embodiments of the invention should require it, the ball could be displaced against the pressure of the header fluid. With the ball so displaced, the tool is reciprocated itl briskly to scrub out the orifices, following whichthemanifold automatically adapts itself for renewed operations since the header pressure acts to automatically re-seat the ball.

The advantages lie principally in rendering these clean- -ing operations so simple Iand quick as to eliminate any justification for failures to clean. However, the functional advantages are materially enhanced and rendered practical by the economies with which the whole manifold can be constructed.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in the light of the above teachings. It is, therefore, to be .understood that within the scope of the appended :claims the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

I claim:

l. A manifold comprising an open-ended conduit provided medially with a discharge orifice, and a ball closure member mounted in the conduit, said manifold having one end adapted for connection with a source of fluid pressure and the other constricted to ushly seat said closure member, the member being adapted to close said seat when subjected to said iiuid pressure and to be moved away from the seat and beyond said discharge orifice when said pressure is released, said movement providing an opening through said seat end through which said uncovered discharge orifice can be cleaned.

2. A spray manifold comprising an elongate openended conduit provided along the major portion of its length with a plurality of spaced jet orifices, and a closure ball slidably moveable in the bore of the conduit, said manifold having one end adapted for connection with a source of fluid pressure and the other formed with a seat projecting a small distance into said conduit bore and adapted to ushly receive said closure ball, said ball being adapted to close said seat when subjected to said fluid pressure and to be moved away from the seat and beyond said spaced jet orifices when said pressure is released, said movement providing an opening through said seat end through which said uncovered orifices can be cleaned.

3. A spray manifold comprising an elongate openended cylindrical conduit provided medially with a plurality of spaced orifices, a closure ball substantially the same diameter as the conduit bore and adapted to be movable freely through the bore, said manifold having one end adapted for connection with a source of fiuid pressure and the other end provided interiorly with a seat to flushly receive said ball closure member, said member closing said seat when subjected to said fiuid pressure and being freely movable away from the seat and beyond said spaced orifices when said pressure is released, said movement providing an opening through said seat through which said uncovered orifices can be cleaned.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 733,372 Colwell July 14, 1903 1,995,475 Haas Mar. 26, 1935 2,177,429 Foster Oct. 24, 1939 2,462,034 yYeck Feb. 15, 1949 2,613,992 lBahnson, Jr. Oct. 14, 1952 2,615,676 Neubauer Oct. 28, 1952 2,633,383 Marmor Mar. 31, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 621,367 Great Britain Apr. 7, 1949 

